Chase and Hershey
by Purple Ghost Sausage
Summary: A cute, pointless one-shot inspired by my biology notes. Intended to be set before House's new team, but it doesn't really matter. Chase-centric. Do not own.


Doctor Chase had clinic duty. The bane of House's existence as a doctor. But Chase didn't mind so much, dealing with the little cases that came in every day. He leaned on the counter of Exam Room 2, waiting for the patient to come in and meanwhile examining the tongue depressor in his fingers. The door squeaked a little, opening wider to permit the patient to enter. Chase put down the wooden stick he had been playing with and walked over to greet her.

A woman entered, dressed in a long denim skirt and pale blue shirt covered by a colorful jacket. Her long, wavy brown hair was tied back with a piece of fabric that matched the jacket. Behind her was a young girl with straight hair, lighter than her mother's. She was in jeans and a purple sweatshirt and wore a pink plastic backpack, looking as though she had come straight from school. In fact, she probably had; it was 3:30, a reasonable time to get to the hospital from one of the nearby elementary schools.

"I'm Doctor Chase," the man spoke in a soft Australian accent. "Which of you will I be looking at?"

"I'm Joyce." The girl introduced herself before her mother could speak. "My Mama thinks she has the flu."

The woman sat on the examination table before being asked. "I'm Elizabeth," she introduced herself. "I really shouldn't have brought her," she apologized, "But there's really nowhere else I could put her."

"It's fine. She can sit right over here." Chase assured her, showing the girl to one of the chairs along the wall. "Dad's at work?" he asked.

"Dad's gone." Joyce replied calmly, but she looked down so the doctor couldn't see her face.

"Oh." Chase said softly, sorry he'd asked.

Looking against the wall he'd been leaning on, Chase located the jar of lollipops for the kids. He smiled, finding the rarity of an entire chocolate bar. He pulled out the maroon-wrapped confection and handed it to Joyce, who smiled back.

"It's okay. Mama's good enough for a daddy, too." the little girl said softly.

"Thank you, Joyce." Her mother spoke up, reminding Doctor Chase of his actual patient. He smiled over his shoulder at the girl, who had put her candy on a nearby counter and was pulling out some homework to work on, and headed towards the examination table.

"I really can't afford to get sick with her dad gone," Elizabeth said softly, smiling sadly.

"Well, I'll do my best to make you better." Chase replied, beginning to do some preliminary tests—getting her pulse, heartbeat, blood pressure and such—and asking about her symptoms.

"Hey, mom?" Joyce asked suddenly, looking up from her books. "What's a virus that attacks bacteria?"

"I'm sorry, honey, I don't remember biology class." her mother said, sincerely apologetic.

"It's a bacteriophage," Chase answered, having taken biology class more recently than the girl's mother.

"Thanks." Joyce smiled up at the doctor before writing the answer on her worksheet.

As she returned to her homework, Chase returned to the patient, pressing his stethoscope to Elizabeth's chest.

After a few more minutes, Chase was ready to make a diagnosis. "It's just a sinus infection. Take these antibiotics and you'll be fine." He assured her, writing the prescription on a slip of paper. As he did, a rustling noise came from the wall where Joyce was sitting.

"Doctor Chase?" she called.

He looked over to see her unwrapping the candy he had given her.

"Thank you." she said, grateful her mother would be okay. She held out a bit of the Hershey bar, offering it to him.

"No problem. And thank you." he added, thanking her for sharing her chocolate. He nibbled a corner of the sweet as he handed the prescription to Elizabeth.

Joyce held her pen over her homework, about to write the final answer, when she paused, thinking.

"Doctor?" She asked, hoping for another bit of help with her homework. "Who were the scientists who worked with the bacteriophages?" Her eyes flicked down to the paper, making sure she got the word right.

"Chase and Hershey." He answered after a brief moment of thought, taking another bite of chocolate.

Joyce wrote down the answer, then glanced up at the doctor and his candy. A giggle burst from her mouth.

"What?" Chase asked, perplexed.

"Chase…and…Hershey!" she gasped, breathless with laughter, pointing at him.

Chase looked confused for a moment, then smiled when he caught sight of the chocolate in his hand.

Doctor, patient, and child were still laughing as she put her papers back in the pink plastic backpack and walked with her mother to the pharmacy down the hall.


End file.
